Planned, Coincidence, or Fate?
by FragrantAlmond
Summary: [High School AU] After an accident on his way to school, Eren Jaeger meets a new student but realises that the student was the same boy he encountered earlier. He attempts to befriend him as a way to make a new impression and at the same time starts to develop feelings towards him. Some things were planned, others were merely coincidences, or was it fate that brought them together?


Eren sprinted through the school corridors, releasing heavy and irregular breaths, with sweat trickling visibly down his forehead. He was never late. Normally, Eren would be in school on time, or 10 minutes before even, and perform his daily routine: meet up with Armin at the school gates with Mikasa and talk about their favourite mythical creature – 'the Titans' – until the bell rang. However, today he had accidentally set the alarm clock an hour late, meaning he had less than 30 minutes to get to school. Eren stealthily slipped through the slightly opened door and into his first class. Now, all he had to do was tiptoe his way up to his desk without the teacher noticing...

"Mr. Jaeger," the english teacher called out, "Unless you have a valid explanation as to why you are late, you may join me for detention."

Eren swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to speak, but ended up closing it, repeating the same action like a fish. When he attempted to come up with an excuse, all that came out was, "Ah... eh... um," Great. Now he had to spend another hour in school.

Eren made his way up to his seat, slumping on his chair. He let out an exasperated sigh as he ran his fingers through his brown locks. When the teacher wordlessly left the room, Eren faced Mikasa, who was sitting adjacent to him. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he angrily whispered.

In response, Mikasa gave him a long, deadpan stare as she replied, "I did."

Suddenly, the teacher returned and spoke as he gestured a boy in. "Class, we have a new student. Let's all welcome 'Rivaille'."

A short boy stood beside the teacher. His face was calm, yet his grey eyes were sharp and intimidating. He had short, straight black hair, with a curtained undercut hairstyle.

Eren perked up to the sound of the name. _Rivaille? That's the name of the guy I bumped into! _

* * *

_The sound of fast footsteps sped through the busy and crowded street of Wall Maria._

"_Sorry!"_

"_Hey, watch it, kid!"_

"_Sorry!"_

_A boy with short, chocolate brown hair clutched firmly onto the strap of his satchel as he sprinted strenuously down the market area. The peak of the school building was visible in the distance which brought relief to the boy. His pace quickened, but when a sea of individuals suddenly appeared in all sorts of directions, it had forced the boy into a sharp halt. Filled with worry that he might be late, the boy gritted his teeth, kicked and shoved and forcefully squeezed himself between the people that towered in his way, until he eventually made it though. _

"_Yes, I made it!—UH, AHHHHHHHHH!" _

_A scream and a loud thump had caused the mass of people to stare in silence at the awkward predicament. _

"_Hey, you shouldn't have been in the way!" the boy complained, rubbing his sore cheek. He got up and, forgetting to apologise, sprinted towards the school building. He took a quick glance at the ground on which he fell on: a name tag stuck to a bag labelled 'Rivaille' caught the boy's eyes and beside it sat a boy of his age, staring daggers at him._

* * *

Whilst the teacher was rambling on about the student's academic success and whatnot, Eren's gleaming green eyes never left the new student. But when the boy returned the glance, Eren looked bashfully to his side. _I was probably staring at him for five minutes! How embarrassing!_

"Hey, your bag is in the way."

Eren looked up – well, he would have looked up if the guy was not to his eye level – and upon finding out who was talking to him, he froze.

"Hey, kid, are you listening?" asked the same voice in an irritated tone.

"Uh, sorry, yeah…" Eren replied hesitantly as he reached to pull his shoulder bag out of the way. His face started to grow hotter and redder in embarrassment. Mikasa noticed this and swore Eren was turning into a boiled tomato.

When Eren looked to his side, he froze again, realising that the boy was sitting next to him. The guy he fell and yelled at was sitting next to him. And now, looking at him!

"What's your problem?" Rivaille had asked with his arms crossed. His body was facing the front of the class though his head was directed at Eren.

"N-nothing… uh, Rivai…?" Eren started, but then paused when he realised he could not pronounce the boy's name.

"Just call me Levi," Rivaille sternly responded. Usually, Rivaille would not let people give him nicknames but an exception when they REALLY struggled. He would rather have people give him a name rather than a mispronounced word followed by irritating tone one would use when implying a question – as performed flawlessly by the boy before him.

"O-okay… Levi." Eren sheepishly replied. _How could he not remember what happened earlier? Short-term memory maybe? _

The bell rang. All the students got up from their seats and raced towards the door, all except Rivaille. Eren noticed this and decided to wait for him outside. He turned towards his friends standing beside him. "Armin, Mikasa, I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Oka–"

"Eren, you were acting strange around the new guy. Did something happen this morning? Are you okay? What did he do?" Mikasa asked with firm eyes as she rested her hand on his shoulder.

Blinking in shock, Eren – for a second – felt at a loss of words at Mikasa's grow of concern for him. He had told her many times that he was old enough to take care of himself. He wasn't five years old anymore. For once, he wanted to make decisions without Mikasa questioning his every action.

"God, Mikasa! Stop interrogating me!" Eren protested, swatting the hand on his shoulder. "Go to class before you get marked late."

Mikasa kept her composed look, nodding in reply, before walking off, Armin following behind her. Now filled with guilt, Eren wish he had not spoken to Mikasa in such a way. Perhaps he could apologise later.

"Hey, _you_, what are you doing?"

"Wah!" Eren spun around. An inch away from him was Rivaille, looking irritated. "Uh, I thought I'd help you find your next class." Eren replied, his lips curving into a crooked smile.

Rivaille narrowed his eyes. What the hell is this guy doing? Seriously, if he wanted help, he would ask. If the guy wanted to apologize for the incident earlier, he could just say it; there was no need for him to make up for the accident. He sighed. Maybe if he accepted this offer the guy would leave him alone. "Fine."

"Great! So what lesson do you have?"

"History."

"Woah! What a coincidence, I have History too!" Eren exclaimed with exaggeration.

Rivaille mentally shook his head. He had a feeling that today was going to be the longest day of his life.

* * *

History class finished surprisingly quickly in Eren's opinion. He could not help but feel full of life. Levi was instructed to sit next to him for the rest of the term, Jean didn't bother him (for once) in the lesson and Mikasa was in a different class so he didn't receive any 'protecting' from her. Eren stood in the middle of the lunch hall, a tray with his lunch was held loosely by his hands on each side. A giddy look on his place caused other students to turn and giggle. In the distance, the cold and mysterious Levi was walking towards him. All in all it was a pretty good day so far until...

"Hey." Levi, who was standing next to Eren in the opposie direction, spoke.

"Hmm?"

"I want to talk to you."

_Oh, look, he has come to declare his love!_

"Yeah?" Eren asked.

A small breath of air escaped the darker haired teen and it tickled Eren's neck. "I would love it if..."

_Yes?_

"–if you..."

_Yes!_

"If you left me alone from now on."


End file.
